The Cast of This Is Us Just Debunked a Major Theory About Jack’s Death

The first season of This Is Us broke our hearts by revealing that the family patriarch, Jack (Milo Ventimiglia), dies before his children grow up—and then kept us hooked by dangling tiny bits of information about when, where, and how exactly this happens. Fans have done their best to piece it together, but it seems like each episode has dropped a clue that makes us rethink everything all over again.

Others claim that Jack died of alcoholism, but one of the most popular theories lays out that Jack was killed in the 9/11 attacks. This last one has caught a lot of traction lately, especially since Rebecca and Jack's son Kevin threw away all his toy planes after his dad died, and Kate's scared of flying. But thanks to a PaleyFest panel with the show's cast at Hollywood’s Dolby Theater on Saturday, we know that this one is (probably) ruled out.

The cast and producers both said Jack was in Pittsburgh during 9/11, so the premise that he died in New York wouldn't make sense. But his death still could have to do with his kids' bad associations with planes. In fact, there was a plane crash near Pittsburgh in 1994 that killed all 132 passengers, which moderator Kristin Dos Santos pointed out to gasps from the audience.

The actors also debunked the admittedly less serious theories that Jack was killed by Rebecca, Miguel, or Kate. Sterling K. Brown (Randall), who has said he knows how Jack dies, joked, "If he faked his death, that would be the coolest thing ever. I’d be so pissed off!”

Chris Sullivan told Glamour that he thinks Kate has told his character Toby what happened to her dad. "I think he knows! And he’s not talking! Somebody has to get him to talk," he said.

Fortunately, regardless of when or how Jack passes, we're still going to be seeing more of him. “We got to see Jack from a certain perspective this season," said executive producer and director Glenn Ficarra, "and I think we might get him from another perspective in other characters.”